Thread: 25 Most Influential Latino/Latinas

Friday, August 11, 2006

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/...608110341/1008

25 Most Influential Latino/Latinas
Role in city's vitality is honored
By Darhiana M. Mateo
dmateo@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

Marilyn Cordova-Winchell sees her position as editor of Hoy en las Americas -- Louisville's only bilingual weekly newspaper -- as more than just another job.

She considers it a bridge between mainstream Louisville and its fast-exploding Hispanic population.

And it has become her passion.

"As an immigrant, you lose so much of your identity, so much of your confidence," said Cordova-Winchell, a Puerto Rico native. "… I wanted to make the community shine for what they really are through the paper. Hold it up as a mirror and show them this is who you are."

Cordova-Winchell's determination to shine a light on issues vital to an often overlooked population in Louisville earned her recognition yesterday as one of the 25 Most Influential Latino/Latinas in Louisville.

"There's all these people that have been here for years, sort of in the shadows," Cordova-Winchell said. "To have 25 publicly recognized for things they've done is the beginning of Hispanics coming on board. It's all in an effort to say we're here and we want to contribute to bettering the community."

The newspaper Hoy en las Americas came up with the idea and helped organize a committee to select the 25 individuals from nearly 60 nominees in December.

Leadership Louisville, which works to foster community leaders, held a reception yesterday to celebrate the awards, which it said were the first of their kind in Louisville.

"When we talk about community issues, we talk about growing international and Latino communities," said Chris Johnson, president of the Leadership Louisville Center. "It's exciting for us to see this leadership emerge."

During the reception, the group of honorees -- hailing from various Latin American countries, speaking with different accents and representing a multitude of professions -- mingled easily, trading jokes in English-speckled Spanish.

The 25 people were honored for their commitment to improving the city.

Recipient Claudia Peralta-Mudd, international program specialist for Louisville's Office of International Affairs, left Argentina 10 years ago and has been in Louisville for the past eight years. She has lobbied social service agencies to provide their non-English-speaking clients with access to bilingual resources and interpretation services.

She also has helped organize workshops to teach immigrants about their rights in America, regardless of legal status.

"Issues are still the same because we have new people coming in all the time," she said. "Yes, we have changed. We have grown a lot. But are we there yet? No."

Another award winner, the Rev. David Sanchez of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Butchertown, who leads bilingual Masses there, said the recognition extends beyond the 25 individuals to the entire Hispanic community.

He emphasized the importance of celebrating the diversity within that community, both in ethnic origins and experiences.

"The prototype of the migrant worker … that TV shows is totally different from the reality," Sanchez said. "We are also professionals, doctors, lawyers, professors."

Reporter Darhiana M. Mateo can be reached at (502) 582-4640.

Illegals should not be assisted by legals. This to me is aiding and abeting a criminal. As for being professionals, I agree that there are many who are but they are predominately legals. There seems to be more illegal migrants workers which are the problem.

During the reception, the group of honorees -- hailing from various Latin American countries, speaking with different accents and representing a multitude of professions -- mingled easily, trading jokes in English-speckled Spanish.

IMO, the overall tone of this piece, is non-assimilation.

Whatever happened to 'proud to be an American'?

Whatever happened to 'proud to be an American'?

The fruits of 30+ years of multiculturalism. We have been teaching for years that all cultures are important except the American culture. Given enough time and enough immigration + high birth rates it won't matter because our culture is slowly but surely being displaced.

Illegals should not be assisted by legals

You are so right but unlike most Americans, rather most white Americans, where race doesn't matter it matters a great deal to most Hispanics legal or otherwise. This is ultimately a disaster for the preservation of American culture and our way of life.